BSL Bill Moves to Next Stage
Mark Griffin MSP’s British Sign Language (BSL) (Scotland) Bill is moving closer to statute after cross-party support was shown by one third of the Parliament’s MSPs.
In the aftermath of an extensive public consultation, the Bill required the cross-party support of at least 18 MSPs in order to go forward to the Committee Stage (Stage One). To date, 43 MSPs, one third of all MSPs, have signed up to support the Bill going forward; 26 Labour, 13 SNP, 1 Conservative, 1 Liberal Democrat, 1 Green and 1 Independent – far surpassing the 18 target.
The Bill will now be assigned a designated committee by the Parliament’s Presiding Officer Tricia Marwick.
Mark said:
"I am delighted that so many fellow MSPs have signed up to allow the Bill to go forward to the next stage and thank them for their support.
"BSL is the first language of many Deaf people in Scotland. For a great number it is the only language they have ever known, or ever will know, yet getting access to basic information in BSL is incredibly difficult.
"My Bill seeks to increase awareness of BSL throughout Scottish society, put pressure on the Government and Scotland’s public authorities to develop action plans on improving access to information for Deaf people, and work towards breaking down the barriers facing Scotland’s Deaf population on a daily basis."